Unable to connect to host shares, Windows XP

[iainwb]

I cloned a basic XP VM today. The VM didn't have Shared Folders enabled; I've had problems cloning a machine with Shared Folders enabled before, so I leave it off on this VM, which I keep around just to clone.

When I attempted to enable shared folders on the new VM, I got this error: "Unable to update run-time folder sharing status: A message header was corrupted or has the incorrect version." and I'm unable to connect to the new share.

I've repaired the virtual machine extensions, and uninstalled and reinstalled to no avail.

Any ideas what's going on?

Workstation version 7.1.0, host and guest XP SP3, update to today.

[Scissor]

Try uninstalling VMware Tools from the Guest, rebooting Guest, and reinstalling VMware Tools.

[iainwb]

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. That's exactly what I did when I said "uninstalled / reinstalled." I did reboot the guest between the two.

[Scissor · Accepted solution]

Hmm, I googled your error and didn't find much. Just some VIX-related stuff, which would only bite you if you had installed "older" VMware programs after installing VMware Workstation -- the "older" programs may have installed outdated VIX automation libraries. Just having VMware Workstation/Player installed shouldn't cause a VIX problem.

Question, are you trying to enable the folders while the Guest is already powered on? If so, what if you shut down the Guest, enable the folders, and then power on the Guest?

[iainwb]

Actually, that's the way I've always done it, add the share while running... but I tried adding the share with the guest powered off, powered it on and it had taken - now I appear to be able to add and remove the share at will, so all is good.

Thanks!

[stewartmoss1]

I fixed an issue like this in Win2k Guest by removing the VMTOOLS.

Reboot.

Cancel any "Found new Hardware" dialogs.

Re-install VMTOOLS using the "COMPLETE" option.

Reboot.

All is good and worked as expected.

[Timothy_Huckaba]

After copyiing a VM to an external eSATA-connected SSD, selecting "I moved it" upon opening it, encrypting it through the Settings, and finally booting it, I received this error message when attempting to Pause the VM while it was running.  The VM is mapped to external shares on the host (Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit).  Reinstalling the VMware Tools (except for the VMware SCSI driver) made no difference, nor did disconnecting within the VM from the host shares, at least not without an additional step (described below); the error persisted.  So, I tried an additional step: shut down the encrypted VM, close it out once shut down, reopen it, and then start/boot it; once this was done, I was able to Pause it and no longer receive the error.  Unfortunately, I do not know if all I really needed to do in the first place was this additional step, since I did first go through the exercise of uninstalling everything related to the VMware Tools other than the VMware SCSI driver, reinstalling the Tools, and disconnecting from all shares on the host, but hopefully this information will help someone else who encounters the error.  My guess is that moving the VM (which I really copied for testing purposes on the same host but to a differrent and external drive) and encrypting it made it necessary to completely shut it down, close it out, reopen it and then reboot it (necessitating entry of the encryption key), made it possible for VMWare Workstation to read a newly encrypted header to enable Pause.  But that is only a guess at this point.  (I'd be interested to know if anyone else encounters this error following encryption of a VM.)

[Timothy_Huckaba]

After copyiing a VM to an external eSATA-connected SSD, selecting "I moved it" upon opening it, encrypting it through the Settings, and finally booting it, I received this error message when attempting to Pause the VM while it was running. The VM is mapped to external shares on the host (Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit). Reinstalling the VMware Tools (except for the VMware SCSI driver) made no difference, nor did disconnecting within the VM from the host shares, at least not without an additional step (described below); the error persisted. So, I tried an additional step: shut down the encrypted VM, close it out once shut down, reopen it, and then start/boot it; once this was done, I was able to Pause it and no longer receive the error. Unfortunately, I do not know if all I really needed to do in the first place was this additional step, since I did first go through the exercise of uninstalling everything related to the VMware Tools other than the VMware SCSI driver, reinstalling the Tools, and disconnecting from all shares on the host, but hopefully this information will help someone else who encounters the error. My guess is that moving the VM (which I really copied for testing purposes on the same host but to a differrent and external drive) and encrypting it made it necessary to completely shut it down, close it out, reopen it and then reboot it (necessitating entry of the encryption key), made it possible for VMWare Workstation to read a newly encrypted header to enable Pause. But that is only a guess at this point. (I'd be interested to know if anyone else encounters this error following encryption of a VM.)